Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In it he calls on Russian leader to stop the war via a meeting with him.

In the letter Zelenskyy tells Russian leader that his perceived desire to wait until his invasion of Ukraine again came in the focus of US, adding further that the only way to end the war is through direct engagement between the two parties to a war. Ukrainian President also called for establishing a ceasefire while the proposed talks would be underway. This was already rejected by Russian side. In the same letter, Ukrainian side reminded of its growing capabilities of striking targets inside internationally recognized borders of Russia, also stating that after 26 years in power, age is taking its toll on Putin.

Russian side confirmed that it received the letter. One of the first responses that came was that Zelensky is welcome to come to Moscow – a condition he could not agree to, especially in light of Ukrainian leader proposing that the meeting should take place in a neutral country. Talking to journalist Putin said that he is ready to make a deal, but first concessions from Ukrainian side should be done. He reiterated the point that were previously made by him. Mainly this concerns Russian demands that Zelensky withdraws from 4 of Ukrainian regions (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson), as well as abolishing the desire to join NATO.

Ukraine rejects the idea of giving up its territories, saying that before full scale invasion of 2022 Russia already annexed Crimea and sent its troops to Donbas. Thus, from Ukrainian standpoint, concessions would only embolden the aggressor. But previous attempts at talks have failed, such as those in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi. So far the efforts of US President Donald Trump have yielded little to no results aside from prisoners of war exchanges.